Stein Mart Inc. (SMRT) Stock Price Down 1% Following Weak Earnings

Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ:SMRT) was down 1% during mid-day trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $5.10 and last traded at $5.17, with a volume of 451,196 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $5.12.

The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.09. Stein Mart had a return on equity of 16.09% and a net margin of 0.84%. The company had revenue of $299.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. TheStreet lowered shares of Stein Mart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 26th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Stein Mart from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 30th. Johnson Rice lowered shares of Stein Mart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 29th. Sidoti lowered shares of Stein Mart from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $10.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 29th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group AG set a $8.00 price target on shares of Stein Mart and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.50.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in Stein Mart by 38.2% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 273,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,111,000 after buying an additional 75,645 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Stein Mart by 6.7% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 536,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,140,000 after buying an additional 33,476 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in Stein Mart by 23.5% in the second quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 266,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 50,816 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in Stein Mart by 12.5% in the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 35,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 3,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Stein Mart by 4.6% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 195,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares in the last quarter. 51.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The company has a market cap of $241.08 million, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.28.

Stein Mart Company Profile

Stein Mart, Inc is a national retailer offering the fashion merchandise, service and presentation of a department or specialty store. The Company offers apparel for women and men, as well as accessories, shoes and home fashions. The Company’s target customers are women over 45 years old. The Company operates approximately 280 stores in over 30 states and an Internet store.